(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to satellite and terrestrial radio communications channels. More particularly, it relates to an improved system of conserving transmission power over satellite and terrestrial radio communications channels, while maintaining an acceptable signal quality level.
(b) Description of Related Art
For both communications satellites and terrestrial radio, there is often the need to conserve the transmitted power of signals sent over the communications channels, on both an individual and a collective basis. However, this need to conserve transmitted power must be balanced by a conflicting need to maintain an acceptable signal quality, often in the presence of variable radio propagation conditions. The transmitted signals may represent voice, data and/or video.
Conserving signal transmission power in a communications system calls for an adaptive method of regulating the transmit power of each individual communications channel based on the received signal quality at the signal's destination. In general, a power control/conservation system should be responsive to rapidly varying propagation conditions, exhibit dynamic stability and effective transient response of the regulatory process, maintain an acceptable or desired signal quality, and deliver significant power savings even in adverse propagation environments.
The present invention is a power conservation/control system that achieves the aforementioned and other goals.